Multiple stage water heater



Dec. 29, 1942.' N. B. LEO

MULTIPLE STAGE WATER HEATER F'iled Aug. 5, 1940 .6. Jill" all,

Patented Dec. 29, 1942 MULTIPLE STAGE WATER HEATER Norton B. Leo, deceased, late, of Yonkers, N. Y., .by Charlotte E. Leo, administran-ix, Tuckahoe,

vN. Y.

Application August 3, 1940, Serial No. 351,653

(c1. 12a-1s) 2 Claims.

This invention relates to liquid heaters, and more particularly to multiple stage heaters, wherein a quantity of water is maintained at a high temperature at all times.

In the usual storage" hot water heater, all of the water in the container or tank is at a high temperature and the cost of maintaining this large body of water at such a high temperature at all times is considerable. Such devices, though well insulated, lose a great amount of heat Y through radiation. The present device overcomes these objections with a -simple and commercially practical construction.

It is among the desiderata of the invention to provide a water heater, wherein a comparatively small proportion of the liquid is kept at the high temperature necessary `for use, while the remainder is at a gradually increasing temperature and is heated largely by the lheat lost to the small highly heated portion.

Another object of the invention is to provide a more emcient system of heating a body of liquid and for keeping said liquid at a constant temperature.

A further object is to so arrange the heater, that certain portions of the liquid may be at higher or lower temperatures than other portions without the use of separate tanks or containers of the usual economizer type.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a means for circulating the liquid in the heater, without mechanical moving parts.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is disclosed in the accompanying drawing, wherein Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section through one of the heating units,

A liquid container or tank I is provided of substantially cylindrical design, having the usual insulation 2 and outer jacket or cover 3. Immediately belowthe tank, a space is provided for the burners 4 and 4 which are arranged in a manner to be later described. A flue space 5 may surround the lower portion of the tank I in order to absorb the fullest possible amount of heat from the gases of combustion.

Arranged below and in communication with the tank I are a series of water heater pipes 6, 1 and 8. These pipes are part of a system whereby several layers of liquid may be maintained at the desired temperature and each layer may be heated'independently of every other layer, except that the upper layer must be at a highertemperature than the neXt lower layer, and this in turn must be heated more than the next layer, etc.

In order to permit this layer heating arrangement the circulating heater pipe 6 comprises a vertical intake pipe 9 serving as a conduit from.

the lowermost part of the upper or hottest layer of the liquid, This pipe 9 feeds the lower end of the sloping heater pipe 6 which, at its upper end is in communication with a vertical return pipe I0, which in turn opens to the upper part of said hottest layer of liquid. Thus, in eiect.,

a continuous stream of liquid is withdrawn from the tank, heated and returned. Y

Similarly, a heater pipe l' is provided with the vertical intake pipe Il from the lower part 0f the middle layer, and a return pipe I2 to the Yupper part. The intake pipe I3, and return pipe I4, are arranged in thev lower layer with the heater pipe 8 to form the third unit.

From the foregoing it will be seen that any of these circulating units may be heated independently, or all may be heated simultaneously. Likewise, various well known control devices may be used in conjunction therewith, to effect the result desired. A preferred method would be to provide a bimetallic thermal control so arranged t0 cause operation of the burners 4 and 4 whenever oold water is flowing into the tank through the inlet pipe I5, or when hot water is being drawn through the outlet pipe I5. While a second thermal device 2l would be affected by the temperature of the upper or hottest layer to cause operation of the individual burner 4', or the burners 4 and 4.

In order to obtain the most eicient operation, each of the return pipes I0, I2 and I4 are provided at their lower ends, in close proximity As the pipes I0, I2 and I4 are inclined upward toward the heat pumps, operation cf the burners will cause .a strong ow through the jets I1 and by their action the venturis I8 will draw liquid from near the bottom yof the tank I, and thus cause circulation across the bottom, prevent the formation thereon of vapor bubbles, and

liquid will be drawn across the surface of the bottom of the tank I and while it will not be heated Y as much as the liquid iiowing through the heater pipes 6, I and 8, it will absorb considerable heat. Referring to the drawing, it will be seen that the baiiie plate 22 extends nearly to the sides of the tank I, and is then extended upward. This feature causes the heated fluid adjacent that portion of the walls of the tank I, heated by the nue gases to be the first to be drawn to the space between the bottom of said tank and the ba e 22.

Therefore, it will be seen, that the various steps in heating the system constitute a multiplicity of stages, each one of which is a preheat for the following one. In this way, every possible advantage is secured in arranging an efficient and economical Water heater.

While there has been shown and described one embodiment of the invention, it should be understood that many variations and changes may be made Without departing from the invention, and such modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims, are considered within the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A liquid heater comprising a container, a

conduit having both of its ends opening into the container at the lower part thereof, another con- Vduit having both of its ends opening into the container at the upper part thereof, each of said conduits comprising two portions, one portion having a terminal nozzle formation directed into the other portion, the junction of the two portions of each conduit in the lregion of said nozzle being open to receive liquid from the interior of the container, the portion of each of said conduits which has the nozzle formation thereon being subjected to high heat whereby an ejector action will be created at said nozzle junction to stimulate circulation of liquid Within the container, means for supplying fresh liquid to the container, and means for withdrawing liquid from the container.

2. A liquid heater comprising a container, a baffle plate in close proximity to the bottom of the container, a plurality of return pipes opening through said baie plate and extending upwardly to dier'ent heights within the container, a plurality of heater pipes, one associated with each of said return pipes and each having a portion lying outside the container to be subjected to high heat, each of said heater pipes having a nozzle at one end directed into the lower end of its associated return pipe, the junction at each nozzle being open into the space between ,said bale plate and the bottom of the container, the other end of each of said heater pipes opening into the container at a level corresponding to the level at which the associated return pipe opens into the container, means for supplying fresh liquid to the container and means for withdrawing liquid from the container.

CHARLOTTE E. LEO, Administratrix of the Estate of Norton B. Leo,

Deceased. 

